Jonas Kaufmann
Biography
Jonas Kaufmann is now the world’s most successful tenor. He is internationally acclaimed for his roles in Italian, German and French repertoire and he appears at all the leading international opera houses, including the Metropolitan Opera in New York, La Scala in Milan, the Vienna State Opera, the Paris Opéra and London’s Covent Garden. He also performs regularly at the Salzburg Festival and reaches an audience of millions through his regular cinema and television broadcasts. Last year he was watched by millions worldwide when making his celebrated debut singing at the Last Night of the Proms from London’s Royal Albert Hall and in a special international cinema-cast of his La Scala concert “An Evening with Puccini”. As well as in opera, Jonas Kaufmann also enthralls audiences and critics alike as a lieder recitalist with his accompanist Helmut Deutsch and recently enjoyed great success with his sold-out European concert tours of Puccini arias & Du bist die Welt für mich. Jonas Kaufmann has received numerous awards, most recently the Order of Merit of the Federal Republic of Germany (Bundesverdienstkreuz), an Opera News Award in New York, and the International Opera Award in London, and was appointed a Chevalier de l’Ordre des Arts et des Lettres in France. Specialist journals such as Opernwelt, Diapason and Musical America, together with the jury of the ECHO Klassik Awards, have all voted him Singer of the Year. In 2015 his album Nessun dorma – The Puccini Album obtained his best ever general-album chart success in many countries including in Germany, UK, France & Spain. In 2014 he received the German Bambi Award for his album, Du bist die Welt für mich. Both this album and his Verdi Album from 2013 had outstanding success in the German and Austrian general-album charts and were bestsellers in the classical charts – both reaching gold status in Austria. His recording of Schubert’s Winterreise succeeded as the first Lieder album ever to enter the German and Austrian general-album charts.
Current album
It's Christmas! (Gold Edition)
Artists Jonas KaufmannRelease Date: 11/25/2022
"It's Christmas!" is the Christmas bestseller album by the German classical world star Jonas Kaufmann. The exceptional tenor has chosen his favorite Christmas songs from Germany and around the world and recorded them with excellent musicians. The result is a music album that fulfills all musical desires for a festive, contemplative, or swinging Christmas season. Now, this bestseller is available in a limited gold edition as an extended 3CD set. For this album, Jonas Kaufmann himself has recorded his favorite Christmas poems and stories, including well-known ones like "Christmas Eve" (Hermann Hesse), "Song in Advent" (Matthias Claudius), "The Holy Night" (Ludwig Thoma), as well as true rarities like "On December 24th" (Theodor Fontane), "The Star" (Wilhelm Busch), or "A Bavarian Advent Story". The high-quality booklet contains numerous personal photos and favorite recipes of Jonas Kaufmann.
The many Christmas songs that Jonas Kaufmann selected for "It's Christmas!" are closely tied to his memories of joyful Christmases spent with his family. That's why CD 1 features many of the most beautiful German Christmas songs like "Softly Falls the Snow," "O Holy Night," "Still, still...," "Every Year Again...," "From Heaven on High...," or "Daughter Zion." Jonas Kaufmann is accompanied by the excellent Mozarteum Orchestra Salzburg under Jochen Rieder, the Bach Choir Salzburg, and the St. Florian Boys' Choir, who provide a wonderfully warm, radiant sound to the elegant, mostly new arrangements. One of the highlights on the album is certainly the touching "Silent Night," where Jonas Kaufmann is accompanied only by a harp.
Spreading good cheer on CD 2 are American Christmas evergreens like "White Christmas," "O Holy Night," "Let it Snow," or "Winter Wonderland," which are among Kaufmann's favorites because his father often played the legendary Christmas records of Bing Crosby, Sinatra, and Ella Fitzgerald after the gift exchange on Christmas. CD 2 also features particularly beautiful French, English, Italian, Swedish, and Bavarian Christmas songs in new arrangements. For "Let it Snow" and "Have Yourself a Merry Little Christmas," the German jazz star Till Brönner is a fantastic, inspiring soloist.
With the extremely varied and high-quality "It's Christmas!" Jonas Kaufmann once again demonstrates his outstanding versatility and quality. With its stylistic variety and quality, the album is the perfect Christmas album for those who want to celebrate a contemplative, joyful, and festive Christmas season. It's also an ideal gift, as the three CDs of "It's Christmas!" come in a lovingly designed, high-quality, gold-colored deluxe digipack. The 100-page booklet contains personally selected Christmas poems by Jonas Kaufmann, photos from his childhood Christmases, recipes for his favorite Christmas treats, lots of personal content, and all song lyrics.
